Former College Student Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Trying to Join ISIS

staff@people.com (Jeff Truesdell)
Updated

A former Mississippi honors student was sentenced Thursday to serve 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal terrorism charges related to her desire to join ISIS, PEOPLE confirms.

Vicksburg native Jaelyn Young, 20 at the time, pleaded guilty in March to one count of providing material support or resources to terrorists, after authorities say she and her fiancé tried to board a plane to Syria in August 2015 with the intention of joining ISIS.

Her fiancé, Muhammad Dakhlalla, pleaded guilty to a similar charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 24, reports the Associated Press.

Young, the daughter of a school administrator and a police officer who is also a Navy veteran, had faced up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, according to the AP. She broke down in tears during her sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Sharion Aycock, and said that she was ashamed for her actions.

The sentence handed down in federal court includes an additional 15 years of supervised release after her prison term, reports The Dispatch of Columbus.

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Authorities earlier said Young, a former student at Mississippi State University who was an honor student and cheerleader in high school, announced her conversion to Islam in March 2015 and urged Dakhlalla to join ISIS with her, according to court documents cited by the AP.

Federal prosecutors wrote that Young complained about the treatment of Muslims in the United States and United Kingdom, viewed ISIS fighters as liberators, distanced herself from family and friends after her conversion and wrote a farewell letter to her family telling them not to alert authorities.

At one point Young had tried to disguise a journey with her fiancé to join the terrorist group as a honeymoon, authorities said.

At her sentencing, an attorney for Young, Dennis Sweet, argued for leniency and cited "mental instability" at the time of her attempted defection, as well as Young's desire to become a medic for ISIS rather than a combat fighter, according to The Dispatch.

After the sentencing, Sweet could not immediately be reached by PEOPLE for comment.